Craig D. Galli

Distinguished Practitioner in Residence

Craig Galli lectures in the areas of environmental law, public lands and natural resources law, energy law, and international environmental law. He has published widely on environmental law topics and is a frequent speaker to professional organizations on environmental law and compliance issues. In addition to his teaching duties, Craig is the Externship Program Director and Moot Court Adviser. As visiting professor in 2017 to 2018, he developed and taught courses in Corporate Compliance and Legal Risk Management, and Business Ethics for Lawyers.

Before joining the fulltime faculty, Craig was a partner for the last nineteen years at the Salt Lake City office of Holland & Hart LLP. During that time, Craig took two leaves of absence to serve as Area Legal Counsel for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, South America South Area, 2013-2015; and as Mission President, Spain Barcelona Mission, 2018-2021. Early in his career, Craig was a Senior Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment & Natural Resources Division, Environmental Defense Section, in Washington, D.C. where he represented the United States in federal district court and court of appeals cases around the country and in the territories of Puerto Rico and Guam. As a young DOJ trial lawyer, he cut his teeth litigating the nine-month Love Canal trial in Buffalo, New York.

Craig is an accomplished litigator and has briefed and argued appellate cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Ninth, Tenth and District of Columbia Circuits. He has defended companies in the mining, energy, transportation, defense contractor, land development, and manufacturing industry sectors in a variety of environmental enforcement actions, citizen suits, and cost recovery actions in state and federal court and before administrative agencies in Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Washington, and other states.

Outside of the classroom, Craig currently serves on the Board of Audubon Rockies, and has served on the Salt Lake City Planning Commission, Chaired the Salt Lake City Land Use Appeals Board, and served on the Board of the Legal Aid Society.

Craig received his J.D. from Columbia University where he was the Head Articles Editor for the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law. He received a M.A. from Brigham Young University in American Studies, and a B.A. from Brigham Young University in Political Science.

Courses Taught

  • Business Ethics for Lawyers
  • Corporate Compliance & Legal Risk Management
  • Energy Law
  • Environmental Law
  • International Environmental Law
  • Judicial Externship Clinical Alliance
  • Public Lands & Natural Resources Law

Education

  • J.D., Columbia University
  • M.A., Brigham Young University
  • B.A., Brigham Young University